Regular Rehearsal on Saturday, February 27

We will close out the month of February with a regular rehearsal.
With March just around the corner, hopefully we will begin to
see warmer temperatures and the return of "shorts weather". I
am more than ready!

I want to thank our students for excellent attendance last
Saturday! Even though most of our older students were
involved in some way or another with the basketball tournament, the
band members did all they could to attend rehearsal, even if it was
for a short time. The result was a productive and energetic
rehearsal with the band making some very good improvement!

Remember there is no rehearsal on March 5 due to the Solo and
Ensemble event being held at Clintonville High School. Many
of our 7th and 8th grade band students will be performing their
solo on that day, and Mr. Kramer and Neujahr will be there as
well.

Remaining Schedule for the Second Semester

Please check the FVL Schools Calendar for a full listing of the
second semester rehearsals and performances. For reference,
listed below are our rehearsals and performances for the second
semester.

Saturday, March 5 - Northeast Conference Solo and Ensemble Festival
at Clintonville HS. There will be no rehearsal this day, but
many of our Concert Winds students will be participating in the
Festival by playing their solo.

March 12 and 19 - Regular rehearsals

April 9 and 23 - Regular rehearsals

April 16 - the World Famous Dallas Brass will
be here! This day will include the FVL Schools Concert Winds
and the FVL Symphonic Band students, as well as the grade school
and high school band students from Manitowoc Lutheran HS and the
members of Lutheran Vanguard of Wisconsin! There will be a
schedule coming out soon, but for planning purposes, the day will
include master classes, rehearsals, and the concert that night.

Sunday, April 24 - FVL Middle School Band Concert, 6:00 PM (Cadet
Band and Concert Winds)

Picture Day is Set!

We will be taking our band pictures on Saturday, March
19. We will be taking time during our rehearsal for
the photos. We will be taking formal group photos in uniform,
so band students are to bring black shoes and socks, white shirts,
and black pants for the day. These items are the same as what
they wore to the November concert. To save time, they are
certainly welcome to wear these clothes for the
rehearsal. We will distribute the concert vests on that
morning.

Our Photographer will be from Pinnacle Group Photography, and will
be offering several different packages for purchase. It will
be up to you if you want to order a package or not. We do ask
that all band members wear concert clothes on that day even if you
may not purchase any photos, since we will be taking a group photo
with all students included.

We will be receiving a few pre-order forms in advance of March 19.
Pinnacle will also be setting up an online ordering option.
That website should be available in the next few weeks, and
the link will be posted when it becomes available.

Information for Students playing a solo on March 5

LOTS of information for our upcoming solo and ensemble festival
was posted last week. For the complete information, check the
Update for February
20.

Lesson Schedule for the week of February 29 - March 4

FVL will be presenting The Sound of Music during the first full
week in March. Due to very large requests for grade school
tickets, we will be presenting THREE grade school shows that week!
Those performances will be on Wednesday, March 2 and
Thursday, March 3. The lesson schedule will be affected as
follows:

Wednesday, March 2 - NO LESSONS at St. Mark and St. Paul Green Bay;
St. Paul Appleton, and Trinity Brillion. Lessons WILL
BE HELD at St. Peter, Appleton.

Regular Rehearsals on February 20 and 27

We WILL have rehearsal on Saturday, February 20. This is the
same weekend as the FVL Schools Basketball Tournament. We
realize that some kids may be involved in basketball games as
players or cheerleaders. That is OK, and students should be
with their teams. Most students should be able to make some
or all of the band rehearsal, however, and we ask that if it is at
all possible to attend band. Many band students wear their
uniforms/warm ups on that day to rehearsal, which is totally
acceptable. Even if students arrive late or have to leave
early, that is better than not coming at all. Last year we
actually had very good attendance on Tournament weekend, since most
of the kids are at FVL anyway cheering on their teams.

Members of the Concert Winds will be receiving new music on
Saturday. For students who cannot attend rehearsal due to BB
games, they should try to stop in and at least pick up the new
music, as well as turn in music that was performed at
Winterfest.

We will have a regular rehearsal on Saturday, February 27.

No Rehearsal on Saturday, March 5

Note that on Saturday, March 5, we will not have rehearsal.
Most of our 7th and 8th grade students, as well as Mr. Kramer
and Mr. Neujahr, will be in Clintonville for the Northeast
Conference Solo and Ensemble event.

This is the same festival that the FVL high school band
and choir students will be attending. FVL has about 35
events entered, including instrumental solos and ensembles,
choral solos and ensembles, many piano solos, among other events.
The FVL Schools Band Program has a total of 33 solo events
entered! Most are class B or C, but we do have a few class A
solos entered as well.

This event will feature several performance
sites, with rooms designated for vocal, piano, woodwind,
percussion, and brass events. In addition to solos, there
will be many different ensembles performing, including jazz
ensembles, brass and woodwind ensembles, show choirs, and so on.
I would strongly encourage our students to observe as many
solos and other ensemble events during the day. All of the
event sites are open to the public, so parents and students can sit
in on performances throughout the day.

Information for Students who are performing a solo on March 5

Solo day is fast approaching! Mr. Kramer and Mr. Neujahr
have been working with most of our 7th and 8th graders for the past
two months to prepare for this day. The students have been
improving each week with their solo preparations, and they should
do very well!

Our Solo and Ensemble Festival will be held at Clintonville High
School on Saturday, March 5. This festival includes, in
addition to our FVL Schools Band students, FVL HS, Waupaca HS,
Clintonville HS, and St. Martin Lutheran Grade School (from
Clintonville).

We received the schedules and other information for March 5 on
Thursday, February 18. Following are links to the schedules
for FVL Schools Band students (FVLM), Fox Valley Lutheran HS (FVL)
and also a map of Clintonville HS. I am providing a link for
FVL, as many of our students have older brothers and sisters who
will also be performing that day.

IMPORTANT: If for some reason your son or
daughter will NOT be performing their solo on March 5, please Email Mr. Neujahr as soon as possible
so he can notify the Festival Manager and the schedules can be
updated.

Following is information for students who are playing a solo on
March 5. Mr. Neujahr and Mr. Kramer will also discuss these
items with the students at lessons as they prepare for March 5.

Attire: Dress up for your events. No
jeans, T-shirts, crew-neck shirts, tennis shoes, etc. Ties
are recommended for guys, ladies in dress/skirt or other nice
attire. Make an excellent first impression for the
adjudicator!

Music: You are responsible for all of your
music for the day, including your judge's copy. Remember that
NO PHOTOCOPIES are allowed for a WSMA event. You
are also responsible for your own instrument! Number the
measures in your judge's copy and your copy. This MUST be
done prior to playing. To my knowledge, every student has the
required 2 original "store bought" copies of the music.

Homerooms/Case and Coat Storage: The CHS Gym
will be used as the homeroom for all schools (see map). A
section of the bleachers will be labled showing each school's
designated area.

Be Prompt! Leave early and allow plenty of
time to get to Clintonville HS. There is most likely going to be a
bus from FVL leaving VERY early in the morning (6:30 AM).
You will also need extra time to find your designated warm-up
area and performance rooms. Generally, you should try to be in the
designated warm-up site 20-30 minutes before your scheduled
performance time. It is a good idea to check your performance
site to see if they are ahead or behind schedule. Your
performance time may be shifted earlier or later depending upon how
the day is progressing in that particular site.

For those using an accompanist: Remember to tell
your accompanist the necessary times and room numbers, etc. A
nice card and gift of money for all of the time put in by your
accompanist is recommended.

Bus Transportation

A bus will be leaving FVL at 6:30 AM on March 5. Because
the majority of the FVL Students who are performing that day are
also performing that night in the musical The Sound of Music, the
bus will leave Clintonville HS at approximately 12:00 PM (noon).
It is our hope that all parents are able to drive their
children to this event and listen to them play their solo (and also
to provide support for them on this big day), but if necessary the
bus will be there for morning events. Please let Mr. Neujahr
know if your son/daughter will be riding the bus.

Student Introductions

WSMA requires that students introduce their solo. You may
write it out and bring your sheet with you. You may also
memorize it. Rehearse what you are going to say! The
introduction outline is as follows:

My name is (performer name), from Fox Valley Lutheran Middle
School

My accompanist is (name of accompanist - if you have one)

I am performing (name of solo, and if appropriate, the movements
being performed)

My solo was composed by (name of the composer or arranger)

An interesting aspect of this piece to listen for is. . .
(something to listen for, such as interesting melodies,
articulations, tempos, styles, etc)

-OR-

Something I learned while studying this piece is. . . (something
that you learned about music, or something that this solo helped
you to improve while practicing)

Lesson Schedule for the week of February 29 - March 4

FVL will be presenting The Sound of Music during the first full
week in March. Due to very large requests for grade school
tickets, we will be presenting THREE grade school shows that week!
Those performances will be on Wednesday, March 2 and
Thursday, March 3. The lesson schedule will be affected as
follows:

Wednesday, March 2 - NO LESSONS at St. Mark and St. Paul Green
Bay; St. Paul Appleton, and Trinity Brillion. Lessons
WILL BE HELD at St. Peter, Appleton.